Road to a New Year
by Capricorn of Saturn
Summary: It isn't happiness if you don't have anyone to share it with. RTN!SasuHina One-shot.


A/N: The story is about _Road to Ninja_ SasuHina. I recommend you to read the translation of _Road to Charasuke_ before reading this because certain events will be mentioned.

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**Road to a New Year**

by Capricorn of Saturn

The night had fallen.

A seventeen years old boy was walking down the streets of Konohagakure. His black hair protruded from the cap on his bowed head. He frowned at the irritating sound of his boots sinking into the snow. It would not go away as long as he kept on strolling.

The lanterns were hanging all over the place, enlightening the stands surrounding the sidewalk. People were serving various types of food, stumbling into the kids running around with their recently bought candies and toys. There were singers, dancers and many other enertainers. The people apparently enjoyed themselves, happy smiles on their faces. It was all so annoying. Especially the couples buying each other presents, talking about their plans for the future as if they would be in love forever...

Sasuke had even recognized the girls he had been... involved with before. The same girls, whom he had used and thrown away, rejected him when he called them to spend the New Year's Eve with him, so they could appear accompanied by boys, who were most likely their boyfriends, in front of his eyes like they were mocking him. Didn't they realize that his invitation was an apology? What else did they need? They did not need much the time they went out with him and...

Not that he understood women. What he knew was that he successfully attracted them by acting nice and giving them roses, which were not hard, but rather... profitable. After all, he was a male with hormones and he had to do something about them. Women were helpful.

Anyway, the saying, "What goes around comes around" seemed to be true in his case.

His parents had been gone on a business trip. His brother promised them to take care of him while they were gone, but Itachi was not home either, so Sasuke assumed that he was among the annoying couples along with his girlfriend. And Menma, his only friend...

_"Sakura and I are having a... special night tonight. Don't you have anywhere to go? I mean, aren't you popular with girls and stuff?"_

Those were his best friend's words and so was he left all by himself, but celebrating New Year without anyone was unimaginable. He did not have much choice, but he refused to. If he was lonely now, he would be lonely all year.

The fault was all his though. Why couldn't he be like other people? Why couldn't he make friends? Why couldn't he get ONE girlfriend? It was not too late to change. Maybe next year?

Hours have passed and he had been still wondering. He had no idea where he was, but he stopped as soon as he found himself in a clearing covered with snow... completely alone.

There was nothing in sight except the white rug spread over the ground, making contrast with the darkness of the night sky at the moonlight. Not even the music could be heard and the only noise was created by the wind.

How he had ended up there, he did not remember. He was not sure how to find the way back home either. Unfortunately, he would not be able to find any company wherever he was now, but maybe it was better that way.

He could stay there for a while and think... about the plans for the future. Now he was the one feeling used and thrown away.

The cold air hit his bare skin and his scarf fluttered right into his face as he frowned once again that night. Would the whole next year be slapping him like that? He grabbed the cloth and moved it away only to see a strangely familiar girl not too far.

At first, he thought that she was just a part of his imagination, but there was no reason for him to imagine a girl wearing a baggy winter jacket.

The first thing he noticed about her was her long navy blue hair waving in the wind. As she removed it from her face, a pair of white eyes was revealed. Their unusual color was even noticeable from a distance. Her look seemed to be fixated on the sky and then she turned her head in his direction.

So, that was why she looked familiar...

She did not even look as nearly surprised as he was. It had been his first encounter with her ever since that incident and he did not expect it. How should he behave? Should he feel angry? Should he feel hurt? Should he feel... betrayed? He relived all the emotions from the time she decieved him into liking her and beat him up accusing him of being a pervert.

Hinata Hyuga had fooled Sasuke Uchiha.

She just observed him and since he did not move for a while, but stood there wide eyed, his jaw dropped due to the sudden shock, she turned her head away.

Hinata Hyuga had fooled Sasuke Uchiha and ignored him after.

Only the thought of it was maddening and before he could stop himself, he stepped towards her and yelled, "Hey, you!"

She looked at him once again, her lips parted like she was caught off guard by his tone. "Eh? Sasuke..."

"I haven't forgiven you yet!" he continued.

"Huh? What the hell are you blabbering about?" She felt slightly irritated and planned to give him a lesson for his rude behavior, but he quickly interrupted her.

"Stop playing dumb! After agreeing to help you jump Menma, how dare you punch me like that?"

"Can't you just shut up? It's New Year's Eve, for the love of god," she brushed him off and returned her attention to the shooting stars, ending the arguement.

Oddly, Hinata was the one to do so, but Sasuke seemed to have calmed down a little after his outburst and her change of behavior. He stopped when he approached her enough to stand next to her.

"You're not as vigorous as usual," he noticed.

"Is that so?"

"What happened?"

"None of your business." It was true, but he could not help wondering why the stoic Hinata would appear to be sad and fail to hide it. There was only one reason, only one cause strong enough. Although he knew that he should not initiate the topic, he did.

"Is it about Menma?" Curiosity killed the cat. Oh, well...

But she was not mad, which he knew by still being able to breathe. In fact, she kept on ignoring him. Did the silence mean "yes" or "no"? She would not answer him anyway.

"Why did you never tell me that Menma and Sakura were dating?" she broke his thoughts.

"It's not like I've been seeing you around so I could've told you... How come you're here?"

After a short pause she replied, "I got lost." Her face flushed due to embarassment although she said it casually.

Sasuke laughed inwardly, but would not dare do it out loud. Hinata's anger could be scary and it did not help that she was in a bad mood. He only hoped that she would not notice the curve of his lips that had already betrayed him.

Then he realized that he was lost as well and remembered the reason why he had been there. Hinata could have easily found out about Menma's relationship with Sakura, which was a common thing. She had other friends, though, to spend the night with, but she had probably been disappointed and wanted to seclude. Sasuke, however, would not let her escape now.

"Come on!" He grabbed her wrist and dragged her along with him.

"Huh? Where are we going?"

"To celebrate New Year together!" he exclaimed determinedly.

"What?! Let me go!" he heard the annoyance in her voice, but her struggling was frail. "Do you even know where you're taking me?"

He stopped and released her.

He looked around only to see that the whole surrounding looked the same. "We will follow the snowprints," he decided grabbing her wrist one more time.

"W-Wait..."

It started snowing.

He assumed that the footprints he followed were left by him. It did not even matter. As he went, he noticed that the prints were becoming milder and milder... until they were invisible. He realized that the snow had come from that direction, but that was not the point. He never watched weather forecast anyway. How could he go home now that the only track had disappeared? Hinata obviously did not know the way back either. What should he do?

She bumped into his back as he stood still. Her wrist was free and she rubbed the area red from his roughness.

"Sasuke?"

On the other hand, staying there had its own benefits. He would be alone with Hinata and no one would disturb them. He could get her to open up to him, to know her better. After all, she was the only woman not fawning over his looks, which was a mystery to him. Perhaps, he could make friends with her and get something else. Anyway, it was not like he could think a way out of the situation, which turned out to be not so bad. The only burden was her answer.

"Hinata... how about you and I spend the night here?"

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A/N: Since I forgot to write a story for Christmas and Hinata's birthday, I decided to write one for New Year. This was supposed to be published on the 31st of December, but I was late. I didn't know if I should post this. It turned out to be lamer than I thought although it wasn't my first fan fiction. Tell me what you like/dislike so I can improve.


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